Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The Vikings emphasis on the run game, combined with Adam Thielen's productivity in the red zone (13 of his 14 receiving touchdowns were inside an opponent's 20-yard line) and Justin Jefferson's incredible rookie season, likely shifted some targets from tight ends in 2020.
Minnesota, however, still utilized two or more tight ends on the field at the same time on 446 of 1,023 offensive plays last season.
The Vikings incorporated 12 personnel (one running back and two tight ends) on 224 of those plays. The only groupings that were more common were 11 (RB, TE and three WR) for 280 plays and 21 (2 RBs, TE and 2 WRs) for 267 plays.
It will be interesting to see how new Offensive Coordinator Klint Kubiak approaches things, but the expectation is a few twists on a system that has frequently used multiple tight ends.
Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman was asked last week if the development of Smith impacted the decision to release Rudolph and said it "had nothing to do" with what was a needed move to work toward getting under the cap.
"Irv, we drafted him in the second round a couple years ago out of Alabama and you can see the mismatches that he can create, a different way than Kyle did," Spielman said. "Kyle did it with his size and his enormous wingspan and catching radius. Irv does it with his ability to run and his athletic ability, so two different ways, same type of production hopefully going forward.
"I think the other guy that really jumped out at the tight end position was Tyler Conklin," Spielman added, "and last year he took a significant jump when he got his opportunity to play, not only making some plays in the passing game but in his development as a blocker at the line of scrimmage as well."